Do you give your Furbaby vitamins?

 Do you give your Furbaby vitamins?

With our previous veterinary consultation at the time when he got sick because he tested positive for erlichiosis, the doctor recommended that we could give him Holistic or Vitality as it is already complete as a dog food. But because these brands are somewhat pricier than others, almost 185-200 pesos a kilogram, we opted to give him vitamins instead.

We already tested this LC-Vit vitamins before which costs less than 200 pesos for 60 mL/bottle back when he was still a puppy after his battle with parvovirus. 

These are the components:

But the thing is, we can't force feed him this anymore. So what I did was to mix it in his dog food. I was actually nervous if he is going to eat his whole meal given as this will be his first time and he can be quite a picky eater at times. Good thing he did.

Please take note that you have to compute how much you will be giving to your pet base on his body weight. If for example your dog weighs 13 kilograms, and the dosage requires 1 mL/ 5 kg of bodyweight, you will give 2.6 mL of the vitamins. I recommend that you use. A 3 mL syringe without the needle (of course) to draw out the vitamins.

Before you Adopt/Buy a Dog, Lessons We Learned as Furparents by Sanegeal Farmhear

I longed for a dog since I was little and was even bothering my mother that if ever we already own a house we would have a dog. She agreed but I found out that it was a white lie. By the time I was a grown up when I realized this, I came up with the conclusion at that time that I won't for now as I didn't have the heart to adopt one because I know I'm not ready yet for another responsibility.

But one day lo and behold! Things changed when a puppy in a box was brought in by my brother without the family's consultation. The puppy was cutely yipping and yapping and none of us knew how to care for a dog. What can we do? Are we going to give it away? Definitely not. We felt sorry for the pup and in the end we welcomed him home. By December, we had another official family member. 

As I've mentioned, we didn't know anything about pup-rearing. Let's start with the physiological needs of dogs.

One mistake that we did was to give him stir-fried human food that was made solely for him (Very VIP-like, right?). We did ask in our defense but it was the wrong one. Haha. One lesson that we learned was that it was best that you start them with dry dog food only which are suitable for their needs. Puppy and Adult dog food are entirely different as the former contains high in protein. If you feed an adult dog with a dog food that is purposely for a puppy dog, this may eventually lead to kidney failure. We gave him Cosi Dog fresh milk which he loved. Did you know that there was also a dog milk powder for puppies?  Too bad I learned it too late as fresh milk for dogs are now priced at 200 pesos per 1 liter. The label in the milk states that after opening, this is only good for a week or less.  Also, don't forget to give them plenty of fresh water.

Next is to their need to eliminate. Potty train them while young. But how? We bought pee pads but he was only keen on destroying it every time he gets to see one. Pee pads are expensive in pet stores and a friend told me that she buys them online which is cheaper than those in the malls. By the way, did you know that there is a diaper for both female and male dogs? I thought that it is just the same. Apparently, the one that has the resemblance of the human baby diaper is for the female. And oh yeah, a trivia: the word bitch pertains to a female dog.

Anyway, back to the need for urination. I asked around and a coworker said that he sprays some kind of spritzer bought in a pet store in the pee pad so that if able they are able to sniff it out they would pee there. What worked for us was that because he was destroying the pee pad every chance he gets, I thought that why not put a little bit of his urine in the pad. Surprisingly, the naughty pup avoid ripping the pad into shreds and did pee in the pee pad. Another tip that I've discover if you cannot afford pee pads is the use of newspapers. Maybe it's the smell? But it worked for me, he was peeing and even defecating there.

Next lesson that we learned is the importance of vaccinations. Please do not take out your pets who are less than 1 year old outside if you haven't completed their essential vaccines. A lot of furparents are grieving for the loss of their beloved pets due to them succumbing to viral illnesses such as parvovirus and distemper which are highly lethal to young puppies. Our dog had parvovirus despite him not socializing outside. The veterinarian said that the virus can also be acquired through shoes that we use outside and the pup may have licked it. That dark time was pretty intense and devastating for us as we were told that it was a 50-50 percent chance for him. Furthermore, even if he did pass the critical stage, he still isn't safe as there are instances that dogs may still die after 1 week of hospital discharge. He was lucky because he was brought out early in the vet. For parvovirus, time is of the essence. So for the furparents out there, please sanitize your shoes or keep them out of the puppies' reach. Hospitalizations and medications when your dogs get sick are very much expensive. The vet costed more than 10,000 pesos for a week which I think was minimal than other clinics. And we were also lucky that our pup was a fighter.

Before you even consider taking an animal, please make an assessment of your personality and your lifestyle if a pet will be okay. If you can, please adopt instead of shopping for one. Animals are also living beings.  As pets, they are dependent on us for their needs and in return they provide unwavering selfless love. Please let us not be selfish. And if you ever want one, ponder and reflect if you are sure in taking a long term commitment because taking care of pets like dogs are like taking care of toddlers.

Dog is not Eating? My take on Nutri-tier Gel

It was sometime November last year when our family dog hadn't eaten the whole straight 3 days. This was the time when he was diagnosed with ehrlichiosis sometime October. He was actually due for a follow up laboratory test (CBC) but then this incident happened. He was throwing up. If we could, we will bring him to a veterinary clinic as soon as possible especially when he was puking greenish stuff. According to the information that I got from the cyberspace and social media, it could be because of the bile or acid due to a prolonged empty stomach. But the thing is, when he's stressed, his tendency is to be anxious and grumpy that we don't know how to handle him. We tried putting a muzzle on him which is quite difficult to do given that he's a smart one (my mom's friend said that he may be a part border collie) and he can unmuzzle himself fast. He can even sometimes undo his leash. 

Imagine the worry that I felt as I don't know what to do with him. But then, when I was grilling aubergine for our lunch, I noticed that he was taking an interest, going near me and sniffing the food which I'm preparing. My brother suggested to give him some. I was adamant at first as it is grilled and it was packed with ingredients such as (garlic, onion, seasonings) which are essentially weren't good for dogs. However, my brother pointed out that that when our dog was was younger, he had sneakily gone up in the table and ate the grilled eggplants. And so, for the sake of trying to stimulate his appetite, I took the risk. He ate the food. And then the dog food. (Hurrah!)

I previously mentioned that he wasn't eating anything. If there was any silver lining to the problem, it was that he was drinking water. But I was still troubled for him as he is not eating. So for a temporary solution, I asked my sister to buy Nutri-tier gel, a high caloric supplement for dogs for boosting their appetite. It costed me 480 pesos at PetExpress. It is a high-calorie gel which is easily absorbable and has prebiotic. This supplement was also prescribed to him by his previous veterinarian when he was diagnosed with Parvovirus. If you can, please still consult your veterinarian.

Till now, there is still some left because I only give him occasionally just for an added boost especially because we know that he can be a picky eater at times.